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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27752767">baby birds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/feints/pseuds/suganii'>suganii (feints)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Feelings, Feelings Realization, Gen, Intimacy, M/M, Pining, Set in the beginning of their second year, no betas we die like daichi, there was only one bed - omg there was only one bed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:55:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27752767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/feints/pseuds/suganii</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <i>In which Hirugami Sachirou finds himself in a position befitting someone in a romance manga. He does not deal with it well.</i>
  </p>
  <p>Or: Bedsharing with your crush: how hard can it be, amirite?</p>
</blockquote>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hirugami Sachirou &amp; Hoshiumi Kourai, Hirugami Sachirou/Hoshiumi Kourai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>135</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>baby birds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/daedalust/gifts">daedalust</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Kdad. I wrote this in like an hour, so apologies if it isn't the best! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this little offering!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Isn’t this amazing, Sachirou?” Kourai yells, punching at the air with a clenched fist. “Finally we’re here, at Nationals!” <em>And I’m playing</em> goes unsaid, but Sachirou hears it anyway.</p><p>He cracks a smile. “Sure is, Kourai-kun. Now please stop abusing that poor bed, I think it can’t hold your weight for much longer.”</p><p>Kourai stops jumping for long enough to glare down his nose at him, his arms outstretched in a victorious pose as he declares, “Of course it can! I am the great Hoshiumi Kourai, this bed should be lucky to have me!”</p><p>Sachirou snorts. “If you say so. Though I’m sure Suwa-san will have something to say about that.”</p><p>That gets Kourai to stop completely, though he does mutter something that sounds vaguely like a curse under his breath. Sachirou just shakes his head, unable to keep his lips from curling up. It still amazes him from time to time how just being around Kourai has made him smile so much. There’s so much energy Sachirou gains just from his presence; the other day, he’d even found his cheeks hurting, and had to stop because he couldn’t remember the last time that <em>that</em> happened to him.</p><p>Kourai’s voice abruptly breaks through his little bubble of reminiscence. Literally, right beside his ear. “-chirou!”</p><p>He startles, landing on his rump beside Kourai who’s now crouching beside him, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. “Kourai-kun, you scared me,” Sachirou chides.</p><p>“I called your name, like, ten times! What’s on your mind anyway?”</p><p>“Hmm? Oh, nothing,” Sachirou says quickly. If he lets Kourai know what he was just thinking about a moment ago, it would only inflate the other boy’s ego. (That, and it would reveal something to him. Something Sachirou’s not quite sure he can even admit to himself just yet.)</p><p>“Huh. Alright then, keep your secrets, Mr Mysterious,” Kourai grumbles. “Hey, are you planning to go to bed anytime soon?”</p><p>That’s right. It’s the dilemma Sachirou’s been avoiding all night. He spares a glance at the queen size bed and the multitude of fluffy pillows that occupy the other end of it. For the third time that day, he curses Suwa-san and the fact that twin-sharing rooms cost less than a single. Sachirou has enough of a hard time disentangling his complicated feelings for Kourai without <em>this </em>being thrown into the mix.</p><p>“Yeah, soon,” he tells Kourai with what he hopes is a passable smile. Kourai seems satisfied with it though and wanders off into the bathroom, probably to wash up.</p><p>Honestly, he should be doing that too. His arms still ache faintly from practicing receives earlier that day and he needs to re-bandage a finger where the skin’s cracked and began bleeding again. Truthfully, he wants nothing more to do than sleep.</p><p><em>It’s fine, Sachirou</em>, he tells himself as he brings his own small travel kit of toothpaste and a toothbrush to the washroom where Kourai is brushing his teeth vigorously at the sink. <em>It’s not like you haven’t slept with Kourai-kun before now. You go over to his house all the time. Hell, the last training camp, he was practically draped all over you. It’s no big deal.</em></p><p>Except for the fact that it very much is. At Kourai’s house, Kourai’s always had an extra futon rolled out that he could use, and as for the training camp, well, the two of them hadn’t been alone in a room then. As much as Kourai had basically sprawled across Sachirou’s entire right side, Gao on his left had done no better, practically snuggling against Sachirou’s left arm. He’d had to endure the two of them using him as a bolster the whole night, and in the morning, Sachirou had promptly decided never to sleep between the two of them again. Funny how things have worked out…</p><p>“Bet I can finish brushing my teeth before you,” Kourai gurgles through a mouthful of Sensodyne. He grins through a bubble of white foam, to Sachirou’s consternation.</p><p>“That’s unfair, Kourai-kun, you started first.”</p><p>Kourai harrumphs, spitting his mouthful of toothpaste in the sink. “Then I’ll just brush my teeth again!”</p><p>Sachirou wrinkles his nose at him in disgust, then joins him at the sink. He gives his toothbrush a quick rinse before squeezing out some toothpaste at the top.</p><p>He can never resist doing this… “You’re on!” he says, before promptly sticking his toothbrush in the left side of his mouth and brushing away.</p><p>“You cheater!” Kourai exclaims, hurriedly dabbing a sizeable amount of more Sensodyne, and Sachirou chuckles.</p><p>This is familiar territory for them. This is <em>safe.</em></p><p>He can’t say the same for after. He tries to stall having to put himself to bed, but there’s only so long he can spend in the washroom putting on pajamas and washing his face. Kourai knows him too well; he likes to keep to a certain sleep schedule, it’s a habit formed from many years of practice, and it’d be weird for him to suddenly stop now. So by ten in the evening, all the lights have been switched off, and Sachirou and Kourai have snuggled deep into the covers, Sachirou at one edge and Kourai on the other, two fluffy pillows in the middle all that separates them.</p><p>Sachirou can’t sleep like this. He’s hyper-aware of every movement the boy to his left is making, every miniscule tug of the blanket and forceful exhale. He can’t seem to stop his mind from forming all sorts of fantastical scenarios in his head—no thanks to all the shoujo manga Shou-nee has let him borrow—like linking pinkies in sleep, and his brain is coming alive with the knowledge that Kourai is right <em>there</em>. He’s right there on the other side of this bed that suddenly seems so small, in a room with only the two of them, Sachirou and Kourai, anticipating a game tomorrow that might change the both of their lives forever.</p><p>Compartmentalisation. It’s what Sachirou’s always been good at. He must learn to be the Immovable here too if he wants any hope of making it out with his heart intact. <em>Just focus on the game tomorrow. Focus on what’s at stake, Sachirou.</em></p><p>As it turns out, Kourai has similar concerns.</p><p>“Hey, Sachirou.”</p><p>His call echoes out softly into the darkness. By that time Sachirou has recited the third paragraph of the Japan Volleyball Association’s code of conduct in his head in a vain bid for sleep. He straightens. “Are you awake?”</p><p>“I’m here, Kourai-kun,” Sachirou says, trying not to cringe at how hoarse his voice sounds. This seems a little too intimate for him. Perhaps he shouldn’t have replied at all.</p><p>
  <em>Focus, Sachirou. You’re the Immovable here.</em>
</p><p>“What do you think’s going to happen tomorrow?” is Kourai’s question though, and Sachirou finds himself easing into the sound.</p><p>“What do you mean, Kourai-kun?”</p><p>There’s silence for a while, the <em>swish </em>of a rustle of blankets on the other side of the bed and a tug on the mattress they share, and then Kourai whispers, “I’m going to do well, of course I am, but what if? Just <em>what if</em>, you know?”</p><p>Ah. Sachirou feels a sharp pang in his chest at the thought. Instantly, his Immovable persona melts away, because he knows. They’ve both come into this competition with so much riding on their shoulders, but for Kourai, no one expects more of him than himself. This is his chance to prove to the world exactly what he’s been telling Sachirou all along: that height is no determining factor to make someone great. There’s a place for players like Kourai on the court despite all the odds. It’s a huge burden to bear for someone who’s only been to his second tournament as someone on the roster, and even moreso for his first tournament as a regular. At this point though, the two of them have already laid bare all their impulses, their selves. They’ve pushed each other this far. If Kourai can’t trust himself, then he can trust all those hours he’s put into practice. His body will do the talking for him.</p><p>“You’ll be fine, Kourai-kun,” Sachirou tells him, rounding his syllables so the words sound as gentle as he feels. “You’re the great Hoshiumi Kourai, yes? Japan’s Little Giant?”</p><p>He waits for Kourai to affirm his words, before reassuring him, “Then you’ll be just fine. Besides,” he adds, “you have me, remember? You don’t need to be doing this alone.”</p><p>“Right,” Kourai says, drawing a sharp inhale. “I’m Japan’s Little Giant.”</p><p>There’s another small tussle of the covers—Kourai stretching, Sachirou thinks, and if he knows the boy, he’s probably propped the back of his head on his hands—before Kourai exclaims, “You know, I’m glad you’re with me, Sachirou. Good night!”</p><p>Sachirou’s heart swells despite himself; he feels his pulse beating like the wings of a hummingbird in his throat.</p><p>“Me too,” he only admits when several indiscernible minutes have passed, and finally he’s been able to get his heart rate back under control. He can already hear Kourai’s soft snores. “Good night, Kourai-kun,” he says.</p><p>His body is lulled into sleep easily after, his eyes growing heavy, tracing shadows on the ceiling before he too, falls into slumber.</p><p> </p><p>—</p><p> </p><p>Sachirou feels warm. There’s a presence pressed up against his side, a pleasing rumble that moves as he moves, breathes as he breathes. Sachirou wants to bask in that warmth forever, but his body is too well-trained. He reluctantly opens one eye, taking a minute to process the scene in front of him.</p><p>When he does, both his eyes shoot open in alarm. Somewhere over the course of the night, someone (probably Kourai) has kicked away the two pillows that served as a barrier between the two of them and the boy is now snuggling Sachirou to him like Sachirou’s a huge teddy bear, burying himself deep in Sachirou’s chest. Sachirou’s arm is a little numb from where Kourai’s head is pinning down Sachirou’s right arm, but even that ache fades away. Sachirou’s heart skips a beat as he looks down and notices how small Kourai seems in sleep. Even his hair is angled down, stray strands of white covering his eyelids. Sachirou’s arms tighten around his frame almost reflexively; that’s when he realises that he’s wrapped his own arms around him too.</p><p>
  <em>Fuck.</em>
</p><p>Sachirou knows from experience that a sleepy or sleeping Kourai is as difficult to shake off as a piece of paper stuck to a hand charged with static electricity. Even if he wanted to let go, he can’t. More than that though, he doesn’t want to.</p><p>Sachirou’s chest tightens as he observes the boy he’s somehow pinioned in his arms once more, protecting him, holding him close. Sachirou had felt so warm. Is it so wrong if he lets them stay like this?</p><p><em>Just until he wakes up</em>, he decides, giving in, ignoring the thump of his treacherous heart, the flashing warning signals his brain is sending him. It’s early and mottled rays of sun are barely peeking through the curtains. He has time.</p><p>Sachirou leans back slightly, shifting his arms so that Kourai can find a better angle to rest. He traces the planes of Kourai’s face with his eyes, the kohl-lined tips at the edges of his eyelids, the apples of his cheeks that have reddened ever so slightly. The shape of his mouth, so full of life in his wakefulness. His lips. Sachirou will savour this memory for as long as he can.</p><p>After a beat of hesitation, he moves his free arm, fingers grazing the tips of Kourai’s hair. They’re soft when they’re not being held up with copious amounts of hair gel; Sachirou’s always known it, but to touch it like this is something entirely different. He strokes the white strands with featherlight touches, storing away the feeling in his mind. Kourai’s hair is soft like down feathers. Soft like the feathers of a baby bird. Sachirou wonders if he asks, if Kourai would let him pet it. Now that he knows what it feels like, it suddenly feels wrong not to do it, not to let his fingers comb through the short mass that’s as tender as the rest of him can’t be. He’s just like Sachirou in that regard.</p><p>Right now, Kourai is so close, in a way that Sachirou has not let himself get to for exactly this reason. He’s utterly mesmerized, drawn under a spell. He never wants to let go.</p><p>But the moment fractures, shifts when a minute later, Kourai blinks olive green eyes open at him. If Sachirou looks closer, he can see flecks of gold swimming at the edges. God, even his eyes are beautiful.</p><p>“Good morning,” he says in a whisper, unable to catch his breath. He forgets to move away.</p><p>Kourai’s smile, when it comes, is like the rising of the sun; slow at first, then reaching towards the corners of his face, an all-encompassing beam of light. “Hi, Sachirou,” he says, equally soft. “I think that was the best sleep I’ve ever had in a while.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>It’s all Sachirou can do to gulp. Kourai’s smile lights a fire in return, something impossibly precious that Sachirou will remember forever. This is a side of Kourai that he has never seen.</p><p>Oh.</p><p><em>Oh</em>, Sachirou thinks. <em>I think I’ve fallen in love.</em></p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kamomedai is totally a rich private school in this fic, I'm sorry. Also, I'm not sure if the Japan Volleyball Association has a code of conduct, but uh, let's just assume they do this once? Ehehe.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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